Cannondale’s retro F-Si Throwback is achingly beautiful

They're not cheap, but the old-school paint job special editions are gorgeous

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Published: June 3, 2019 at 9:29 am

While we previewed Cannondale’s F-Si Throwback framesets when they were announced, we’ve now seen them in person at Sea Otter Europe.

Launch Gallery

cannondale f-si in red — Red frame, yellow logos — a classic throwback from Cannondale
*Tom Marvin*

cannondale f-si stem and fork — The view from the top
*Tom Marvin*

chainstay protector cannondale — Yep, that’s a carbon chainstay protector plate
*Tom Marvin*

tubes on the cannondale f-si — Skinny tubes save weight and give an element of comfort
*Tom Marvin*

carbon protection for lefty ocho fork — The Lefty Ocho is an ‘upside down’ style fork, and has this rather lovely carbon protector for the stanchion
*Tom Marvin*

lefty ocho lockout — You can lock the fork out — there’s an on-bar lever for that
*Tom Marvin*

lefty ocho fork — Cannondale has colour-matched the Lefty Ocho fork
*Tom Marvin*

sram gripshift shifter — Gripshift is not only light, it’s also suitably retro!
*Tom Marvin*

sram level brake lever — The Level is SRAM’s lightweight brake option
*Tom Marvin*

sram level calliper — The caliper for the Level brake uses the roadie flat-mount standard
*Tom Marvin*

cannondale lefty axle — Swapping wheels on the Lefty requires a knack, but it’s not too hard. However, remember you can repair a puncture without removing the wheel
*Tom Marvin*

cannondale hollowgram wheels — Lightweight carbon hoops from Cannondale
*Tom Marvin*

onza canis tyre detail — Nice little paw detail on the Canis tyre
*Tom Marvin*

cannondale carbon bar — Cannondale’s own carbon bar and a long-ish stem give a racey position
*Tom Marvin*

black cannondale f-si — If you don’t want to go retro, you can go subtle
*Tom Marvin*

Fashion is so often cyclical, you only have to walk through the ‘trendier’ areas of your local town or city to see non-ironic flashbacks to the eighties and nineties. So it’s no surprise that bike manufacturers are harking back to the good old days with some retro-inspired paint jobs.

The F-Si is Cannondale’s raciest of hardtails and this particular one comes equipped with a smattering of very, very lightweight parts.

There’s Cannondale’s Lefty Ocho fork, its Hollowgram TR carbon wheels with tan sidewall Onza Canis tyres, a SRAM XX1 groupset with a gripshift shifter (for extra retro, and extra lightweight) and Level TLR brakes, plus a load of carbon Cannondale finishing kit thrown in for good measure.

Tom Marvin

Technical editor

Tom Marvin is a technical editor at BikeRadar.com and MBUK magazine. He has a particular focus on mountain bikes, but spends plenty of time on gravel bikes, too. Tom has written for BikeRadar, MBUK and Cycling Plus, and was previously technical editor of What Mountain Bike magazine. He is also a regular presenter on BikeRadar’s YouTube channel and the BikeRadar podcast. With more than twenty years of mountain biking experience, and nearly a decade of testing mountain and gravel bikes, Tom has ridden and tested thousands of bikes and products, from super-light XC race bikes through to the most powerful brakes on the market. Outside of testing bikes, Tom competes in a wide range of mountain bike races, from multi-day enduros through to 24-hour races in the depths of the Scottish winter – pushing bikes, components and his legs to their limits. He’s also worked out that shaving your legs saves 8 watts, while testing aerodynamics in a wind tunnel. When not riding he can be found at the climbing wall, in his garden or cooking up culinary delights.